Halo:Still Human
by The Shadowed Gunslinger
Summary: This is Story Based In the Halo Universe Taking Place Shortly After the War Begins with the Covenant, Before the First Game Within the Halo Timeline.
1. Chapter 1

**OK....This is the Short introductory First Chapter Of a story that my Girlfriend Helped me kinda figure out. It takes Place within the Halo Universe Before the First Game Takes Place. It will Generally surround The Master Chiefs Human Characteristics, with many action tones as well, so for you hard-core halo freaks out there, don't bash it because you think it makes the Chief a wooce to feel something, remember he is in fact a human, like you or me only made stronger. So I hope you all like it, Please read and review, also this is my first fanfic Ever in the actual sense, so i hope i am to par with the rest of you....**

_**The Shadowed Gunslinger**_

He didn't have a choice anymore. Extract or destroy. The Spartan II he had grown up with, trained with, fought with, and lost to the enemy eight years ago, had appeared on a short range scan, found by a passing probe, and they sent the only man capable to retrieve Cassandra-150 or Cass as he called her, deep into covenant space, with orders to retrieve or destroy. The Covenant could not be allowed to learn the secrets of the Spartan program, it would mean death to the remaining Spartans, and massive losses to the UNSC forces combating Covenant armies all over the Milky Way.

Master Chief Spartan Class II John 117, was by all reasons the perfect weapon, and teamed with his Spartan counterparts, was unstoppable. Today he went alone. It was personal. He had known her in every way. They had known each other. Had it been allowed they would have married and stopped "working" years ago. It was not to be. When she disappeared from the field he had been grief-stricken, not only for the loss of an outstanding soldier, but for the loss of the only truly human thing he had ever known, since picking up a weapon, and sprinting across the battlefield into legend itself.

She had reminded him that he was still human. A man. More than that, he was a man people revered, respected, and all in all trusted with their lives, day in and day out. She reminded him that being a warrior, meant standing for something, and standing for something meant you protected it, and protecting meant caring, and caring makes you human.

He had loved her from that moment, and their joining went from pleasure and release to love, and them being together, after days of near death experiences, and watching friends and comrades fall in battle, they would lay together, and know that once more they could be together, and once more they were one day closer to the end of the war, one day closer the day they could always be together without worries or cares, what they might do with their lives.

He looked at the helmet in his hands. Scratched deeply from the near misses he had endured in the years past. He looked at his reflection in the golden visor, noticing the scars on his face, that she had always seen past. It had become his personification. He was known by it. UNSC Army green, the same he had been issued his first day on the field, many had gotten better, newer versions of the same armored helm he now turned in his hands, but he had always elected to keep his. The faded picture deep in the helmets hollow, showed him a memory of his "childhood" that he adored. He stood with Cass, next to several of the other Spartans he had "graduated" with after all the trainings and augmentations had been completed. He was 18 years old at the time. Cass stood next to him, her arm around his waist as a sentimental scientist had taken the picture of them separate from the others. They excelled in the art of war, and they had always been seen together.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a UNSC soldier telling him it would be sixty seconds to the insertion point. He took one more long look at the picture plastered to the inside of the helm, and placed it on his head, and with a hiss of air, stabilized the environment inside his armored suit. He picked up his weapon, a standard issue UNSC assault rifle, and checked the ammo. Satisfied that the clip was full, he slammed it back into place with the heel of his hand, and slapped the bolt into place.

The Platform at the end of the drop-ship, named Foe-hammer, dropped giving a spectacular view of the ground below, and as soon as the ship was near the surface, he leaped to the dead planets dust blown visage, and watched the dust-off, before checking his surroundings.

He knew she was there, a beacon in her suit told him where. He moved forward slowly and soon found that he had company. A group of Covenant Elites, was approaching fast from directly in front of him. Smiling to himself he sprinted towards them at a speed no normal human was capable of, took aim, and fired.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Okay.....This Chapter Introduces a Romantic counter part, whom Master Chief has gone to retrieve, I'm not too sure why i went this particular direction with the story, but i feel in exemplifies the characters, emotional and physical strength, as well as a small shadowing on the sexual appealing to one of the characters....I hope you all enjoy it Please read review, Fav's etc....**_

_**~The Shadowed Gunslinger~**_

Firing off bursts of rounds as he forces his way through the wall of elite soldiers, The Chief Deploys two bubble shields tandem with two frag grenades, Killing half the oncoming soldiers in a flash of light, and with out slowing down, runs between the balls of fire, and screaming covenant warriors as they die within the hell-storm. Taking milliseconds to assess the situation, the Chief Breaks hard right, and runs through the tunnel that most of the elites came from, hoping he could sprint the length of the facility, to reach the Beacon resonating the signal from within her UNSC issue body armor. She may be here, she may not. He knows this but refuses to accept the fact that she is dead as several jackals, ignite their shields, like the Spartans of old earthen times and crowd together for protection, from what will surely be their deaths. Leaping over their heads, he fires his rifle, directly down at them, and feeling his feet connect with the ceiling of the tunnel, leaps downwards, at an angle, rolling through the air, and landing in a kneeling position, skids several meter's before deploying a grenade, and illuminating the long stone corridor with dark yellow light for a brief moment, and filling the tunnel with the smell of burning flesh.

The remaining elites from outside the compound, turned into the tunnel, and began firing. Running towards them, he quickly switches to wield pistols in both hands, and squeezes off round after round reloading until only a single elite, remains. He hears a beep inside his visor, and it distracts him for a millisecond, and before he know it the gleaming golden elite, is with a foot of him. Just as the bright energy blade is about to pierce his armor, a flurry of pink shards fly through the air from behind him, and shatter the golden armor. He rolls out of the way just as the needles connect with the body of the covenant warrior, exploding, and sending the lifeless body flying backwards through the air, landing in a heap, indistinguishable from his dispatched companions.

He quickly turns and points his weapon at a woman with nearing white blond hair, and a deep scar running over the side of her neck, she had gotten it on their first tour, when Reach was under attack by the Covenant. He had pulled her off the field that day, and incurred many scars in the process. When she had healed, he would always kiss the scar and remember he had risked all that had been beautiful about him, his humanity, to become a killing Machine that very day to save her life. They had applauded him, she had loved him, he had hated himself, but there was no more time to think. He stood slowly, and offered her his hand, as she walked forward wearing only a clear gown of plasticine appearance, he knew why she was here. She was a slave. Scarred from head the back of her neck all the way to her heels. She had been here all this time, all these last years. He suddenly grew dark, and removed his visor. She looked into his eyes, and new that come nightfall none of this facility would be here. He called in the Pelican to evac her, and disobeying a direct order, ran deep into the facility, to kill everything with blood in it's veins.

After a few short minutes he had reached the opening that ran deeper into the planet core, when a flurry of wind, and the grinding of a transmission, came to his ears. He began cursing profusely as the Warthog pulled up, and Cassandra's figure stepped out of the Vehicle clad in UNSC infantry armor. The deep gray color had never suited her, which is why she had chosen the deep salmon color for the armor she had worn the day she had disappeared on the field those years ago. She looked him in the eye for a moment, before he began giving orders, and asking her for any Intel she had on the facility, she quickly drew a rustic map into the dirt on the floor of the cave, and demonstrating that the stairs down into the cavern below where her armor was kept, by the sadistic bastard, who was in charge of this hell hole, were on the other side, smiling, as well as he could given the damage that had occurred to his face in the years past, he drew a field knife from within his armor, placed his weapon on his back, Put his helmet on his head, and sprinted to the edge of the cavern. Leaping high, and pulling his body into a deep swan dive, the chief threw several grenades into the mouth at the bottom of the cavern, as he fell. Stabbing the knife deep into the cavern wall he skidded to a halt at the cavern mouth and somersaulted through the opening below. Seeing what he was looking for He gather the Deep Pink armor pieces into a pile as Cassandra dropped through the opening of the ceiling....apparently she had kept in shape these past years.

She stripped of the gray infantry armor she had donned temporarily, and began placing the familiar colored armor, she had chosen. She was still breathtaking. Her nude body silhouetted in the light of the cave. Perfect in shape and form, as only modern science could create...or God. He felt the familiar urges and stirrings and was suddenly very glad the body armor was only flexible at the joints. After a few short minutes, she was prepared, and gathering whatever weapons and ammunition they could find, Ran deep with in the facility, to exact their revenge.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok it's been a couple week since my last chapter. I made a real effort to show emotion from both characters, that isn't sexual in any manner. This chapter focused on what exactly a person in love will do to ensure their lovers protection. I also concentrated on the battle aspects some, trying to embellish that super human legendary warrior title that Halo heroes are well known for. Please read, review, favy, etc.....**

**As Usual, all my love and good wishes,**

_**~The Shadowed Gunslinger~**_

Sprinting deeper into the facility, they notice together, that they are no encountering any resistance anymore. Curious as to the cause, they delve deeper and deeper, finally coming into a cavern, spanning what seems like miles. Gold, all they saw was Gold. Line after line of Elite Soldiers, each carrying standard Energy swords. An Invasion in the making. A devastating force. They were looking on at another figure. It was seated in a floating chair. A Regent. It did not matter which. It had prepared this army for a reason, and now they had to figure a way to stop it at all costs.

Looking round the room Cassandra noticed the ceiling of the cavern was formed in a high arch, with tresses reaching to a center pavilion. Stationed there was a number of Elites. Not as powerful as their brethren below, but easily a match for ten times the normal marines, they would send on a mission of this nature. The thousands within this room, would easily destroy any army they came against. They had to find a way to kill as many as possible.

Looking over at the Chief, Cassandra saw him make a series of hand signals. Satchel Charges......mount......ceiling....explode....collapse. She nodded as the next series of signals, shook her to the core. I...Distract......Covenant....Mount....Run....No....Return.....Save....Yourself.....Love You. With this He leaped into the army of a thousand Covenant warriors, and began the most senseless slaughter in the history of the Covenant-Earth War. Knowing She had to do this, she ran to the first tress and leaped onto the closest beam.

Running it's length as fast as she could, she a series of grenades and bubble shields, all deploying and exploding at once. The central hub that connected the tresses, fell to the Covenant Ocean Below in a cloud of dust and rock, the screams of the Elites reached her ears, as she leaped to the ceiling, placing the five minuted timed charged, and torpedoing herself to the floor below, next to the Chief. She moved to his position as quickly as she could. By this time the mounds of elite corpses had grown, creating a wall bottleneck. The Chief stands in the Middle Of this circle of hell, doused in covenant blood as he wields one energy sword in each hand.

The Covenant Circle him waiting for the opportunity to dispatch the heretic. They see he has killed their brethren, and wish revenge, but this silent stranger has killed alone more than half the numbers that were in the cavern, and he has now been joined by another, who appears to be just as dangerous. The regent long fled in cowardice, they now were charged to deal with this problem. They all charged at once. A quarter of a thousand all at once.

The Chief and Cassandra saw the charge begin, and dropped grenades where they stood and leaped straight up. They watched from above as a tenth of the Charge was disintegrated, and the same number was thrown away from the blast, incapacitated, or dying. They now stood back to back, Him slashing, and stabbing, her firing, and blasting, moving in unison....Making love in their minds to each other, as they manufactured death for the Covenant.

They worked their way towards the door, and reaching the exit, broke the assault. They ran, side by side, killing everything crossing the path they were burning through the facility. They heard a distant explosion a moment later, and new they had but a minute, perhaps to make it out of the mountain side.

The Tunnel to exit the facility began to collapse around them, and nearly fifty feet from the exit, the Chief, grasps her hand, and when she believes they are about to spend their last moments together, suddenly feels her body lurch as the Chief Throws her clear of the collapse, and is buried.

As she lays on the ground for nearly a minute after the debris stops falling, looking into what is left, of the collapsed cavern, she begins to wail, and cry. The tears begin to fog the visor in her helmet, and reaching to the pressure lock removes it. She looks inside at the picture, an exact copy of the one she had given the chief, and he claimed was lost. Looking at it, she reminisced about how they had loved each other, and wanted so badly to have had a life with him.

As her tears begin to dry on her face, the taste of the salt on her lips, she hears the rocks around the collapsed tunnel begin to move, and slowly, John stands, removes his helmet, and smiles.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Alright Ladies and Gentleman. Many of you will notice this chapter is the shortest so far. You will see why in a few scant moments. I've decided to try and spin a new series of stories, abridging from this one. It will be an alternate series of events, branching from this Chapter, so that I can try a concept i have been pondering since chapter 2. This is a huge chapter. There fore it's length does not really matter so much, as long as it gets you to thinking about the possibilities. As Always, I love my girl, Please read and review all, favy, etc.**_

_**Yours without reservation, **_

_**~The Shadowed Gunslinger~**_

The Following weeks went by in a haze of doctors offices, scans, and checks to ensure Cassandra had not been changed or turned toward the Earth forces. After ensuring she was clean she was temporarily discharged with John by her side, on orders for some much needed R&R.

The nights were the hardest. Hours of making love between them, became hours of sleep filled with her nightmares at the tortures the covenant had visited on her in the years past. He held her close as her screams filled the night and curdled blood at the mere sound, he vowed to kill a thousand Covenant for every scar they had put on her body, so as far as he was concerned their entire army was fucked.

They spent their days together on Earth, Mombasa was a beautiful city by the sea, and they took advantage of every opportunity to swim, both knowing that the people would look on in disgust at the deep scars that zigzagged their bodies. They made love everyday, each trying their damnedest to make up for the time they had lost. All day Together, all night together.

For the most part the going was easy. They talked of leaving the military if they could, no Spartan had ever lived long enough to make such a decision, so they weren't sure. They decided to speak to UNSC Commander of Operation in Mombasa, but were told that it was unprecedented and there fore could not make a decision on that matter personally. He Informed them that he would Contact SecNav, or Someone else with stars to make a decision, until they were granted indefinite leave pending what was passed down.

Weeks filtered down, and they had finally decided that it wasn't going to happen, when they were summoned to do a Mission. Pending it's success, and their survival, they would be formally Discharged. They were ordered to destroy a Covenant Battle Cruiser called Repentant Faith. It had come much too close to the Solar System that Earth called home, and needed to be destroyed lest the Covenant discover the Home planet, and cripple the entirety of Humanity against the Covenant onslaught.

They both knew this mission would be dangerous. The night before they left Earth in search of the "faith" they came together one last time, and as John fell asleep, but could not hear, she whispered in his ear..."this child will know a life without war"....."his father will see to it"......


End file.
